Halfway there...

Hope you all have enjoyed the pictures!  We can't thank you enough for loving Little Larry already.  What a lucky little guy he is going to be to have so many fans!

Wanted to fill you in on some of the more awesome details of yesterday's discovery.  Technology is incredible.  We saw more details in an unborn baby than I'll ever see in anyone else (unless a career change leads to surgeon status).  He measures a little more than 5 inches from butt to head.   Even though the picture is black and white and a bit fuzzy, you could easily see that his heart had multiple chambers that worked together to pump blood.  You could seriously count every single vertebrate in his spinal cord.  You could also count his fingers and toes and at one point know without a doubt that he was crossing his legs.  (What a gentleman.)  You could clearly see that his upper lip was in tact (something I'd never even considered worrying about).  Needless to say, it becomes clearer each and every time what a miracle it is that we can create and grow a human being whose health relies on so many intricate details to be in their exact place and function.  It really is amazing.  

You will also be thrilled to know that I can now feel the little guy moving!!!  I felt it for the first time last Tuesday and then didn't feel it again until Sunday.  But now, mainly when I'm laying down, he's moving for sure!  It feels more like waves or rumbles than kicks and it seems throughout the day I'm not feeling much.  

Life outside of my stomach has been eventful as well.  Two weekends ago Michelle came up from Oregon to visit and as always, it was wonderful to see her.  She helped up hang up pictures so we've now completed more in this apartment than we did for a year and a half upstairs!  We have some really neat pictures we took in Guatemala up and they look great!  (We're expecting a kitchen table to arrive tomorrow!)

Mom and Tom were here this past week!  I think they really enjoyed their time here and we loved having them.  I think they only had one day of rain (which happened to be during the fair I was really excited to take them to).  We went anyways, and you'll have to ask them yourself what they thought about the parade.  :)  It's always nice to have parents here and to show them what our life is like day to day.  Hard to believe that next time they'll be grandparents!  (Which will make Joe and I parents…which one is scarier?!)  But before they left, they got us this amazing book...I should never doubt her intuition! 

Well, love you all! 

Robyn

Here he is!

Thank you all for your love!  We are very excited (and overwhelmed) about our Little Larry!  Here are some pics!

 Here's him hanging out upside down!

  Here's his head!

Here's how we know it's a boy!  That's his butt on the right, you can figure out the rest!

It's a Boy!!!

Will post pictures tonight!

Votes are in...

BOY
Great Grandma Jean              
Great Uncle Kevin 
Uncle Nathan 
Grandma Kim 
Cousin Melia 
Uncle Vic (tomorrow they'll say girl, but it's actually a boy)
Special Cousin Matt
Great Aunt Jeannie 
Special Cousin Kevin
Special Cousin Paul R.
Grandma Francine
Alex Pepin
Special Cousin Paul J.
Great Uncle Paul R.
Great Aunt Robyn R.


GIRL
Aunt Stacey
Aunt Lauren
Grandpa Tom
Great Aunt Missy
Papa Vern 

Aunt Erin

Aunt Lori

Special Cousin Caitlin

Special Cousin Mary

Special Cousin Scott (thinks girl, but would prefer boy)

Special Cousin Gracie

Special Cousin Meg

Special Cousin Annie 

Joe's Boss Jodi 

Special Cousin Jordan

Special Cousin Anna 
Special Cousin Michelle B. 


UNCOMMITTED
Special Cousin Ben 

Baby Week 18 - Work Week 2

Hope this is finding everyone happy and well.  I know you are melting and being cicada-attacked in St. Louis...do me a favor and jump into a nice pool for me.  While I love the anti-humid 75 degree weather here, jumping into a swim pool is something that nothing can replace.

Not too much to report these days.  The transition into my new job has been good.  Each day has gotten more comfortable on all fronts - the people, products, workload, etc.  I definitely feel like I'm in a place that I will love and will continue to look forward to days when I'm normal around here.  (At which point I undoubtedly will wish I was bored and had nothing to do again.)  But until that time, I wish I had more to do!    But the best part is that I am definitely surrounded by good people at a good company - 2 things that seem difficult to find in combination.

We are less than 2 weeks away from finding out who's inside my belly!  We can't wait!  Everything seems to be going well, but as usual I will be relieved to see so for myself at the ultrasound.  My stomach is definitely growing in the outward direction.  I haven't felt any movements yet but am waiting because they say any day now!  

My daily walks to work have been good for me, and have also been good reminders that my body is in rare form!  I'm sure I'm a sight to see trying to make it up that hill in the morning.  Joe and I also went to yoga the other day.  It wasn't our first time, but I think I've "gone my first time" 3 or 4 times now (over years) and every time does indeed feel like the very first time.  I'm never sure if I love it or hate it.  After the initial lay down and focus part I'm sold on the idea of just having an hour with calm music and dimmed light in the background - then they make you move around again.  Maybe in a few more months when I'm REALLY pregnant I could get away with it being a nap time.  I'll keep you posted.  In the meantime, prayer pose is definitely my favorite.

Michelle is heading here this weekend followed quickly by my mom and Tom on Sunday!  We are very excited to see them all.  My fingers are crossed that the beautiful weather will stick around for them.

Hope everyone is well!  

Love,

Robyn

Week 17 for Baby, Week 1 for Work

Beautiful view from a neighboring neighborhood, lunch by the docks.

Hello everyone!  Feels like it has been awhile.  I know this because I have been too tired to even check Facebook for a week now.  So wanted to check in with everyone and fill you in on the monstrous changes we have undergone since my last blog post.

First things first, we have now successfully moved!  It was a process, but we did it.  For those of you who are organized, here is our new address:

633 W Emerson St Apt A

Seattle, WA 98119

We basically moved all day Saturday, cleaned all day Sunday and ached all day Monday.  I'm impressed that we have most everything in its new space except for a few more boxes that mainly consist of medical bills or anything of that annoying nature.  And really, there is no good place for things like that in a new home.  We do love the new space though.  Joe is certainly most excited about our new patio and God has confirmed our new home by giving us some beautiful weather for the past few days to enjoy it.  All of you back in the midwest - humidity doesn't exist here...so nice weather means we pray for 70 degrees, usually stay in the 60's.  I think I'm most excited about our potential dining room (which happens to be housing all of the medical bills, etc.) but it has great potential.  We've also managed to hang some pictures - something we never accomplished in Apt B so we're feeling on top of our game here.  There is a small empty room in the back awaiting for us to transform into a baby room...we might need some more time on this one though.  (But I was persistent not to - as we usually would - throw our miscellaneous belongings in there, so its pretty much empty.)  So we're happy.

Just as I was recovering from the move, I started my new job yesterday at the Omni Group.  I will say that I am still overwhelmingly thankful for the job; however, despite this gratitude, the first day was rough.  The company is unique to say the least.  Think Google style work environment, shrunk down to a company of 40.  Not trying to rub it in or anything (as I said earlier, overwhelmingly thankful) but the benefits are amazing.  Lunch is served at 12:30 everyday.  Today was sloppy joes, waffle fries and always a salad bar.  Dinner is then served at 5:00.  Joe is welcome to join for dinner every day of the week.  Turns out, I can even eat breakfast there as they have a vast variety of cereal.  My work hours can either be 9-5 or 10-6.  I went in at 9 today and by 9:45 there were maybe 5 people in the building (most of whom were eating breakfast.)  I'll probably catch on though because my coworkers who come in at 10 then eat dinner for 30 of their last 60 minutes of the day.  Then there is fully paid health insurance for our whole family, massages, a game room, a theater....I mean, it's ridiculous to say the least.  One of my favorite parts is that it is .7 miles from our house.  While it is a short difference, I will blame both the incredible inclines and my 4 month old fetus for being out of breath on the way to and from work - but its so nice to get some fresh air everyday.

As for the job (I guess it is a job after all) it's not bad and hopefully I'll catch on.  Basically the company makes 5 programs for Apple.  They run on Apple computers, iPhones and iPads.  My job is to keep the customers happy by answering phone calls and emails.  My official title is "Support Ninja".  Since they are a smaller company, there isn't exactly a training program so I'm kind of on my own, but I think I'll get the hang of it sooner than later.  

So, day 2 was significantly more relieving than day 1 - and I now have friends to sit with at the lunch/dinner table so that makes everything easier.

And then there's our baby!  Everything seems to be going well.  This is too much information but I'm not enjoying some of the symptoms, particularly losing bladder control.   I have a whole new empathy for Aunt Missy reading her Christmas poems but I'm pretty much out of luck if I sneeze.  What a bummer.  My stomach is popping out and I'm waiting for the day when I can feel him/her move around.  We are disappointed that our ultrasound to find out the sex is not able to coincide with my mom's visit after all; but we are SO excited for my mom and Tom's visit in 10 days.  Turns out they will be here just one week early and since they will be measuring the heart chambers they won't let us do the ultrasound early.  It's all part of the bigger plan though, I know.  So we'll find out boy or girl on June 21st!

So anyways, we are good - tired, but good.  Joe is quite the partner through all of these changes and has an amazing ability to just hug me while I cry sometimes!  :)  I'm pretty lucky.

We love you all and think of you daily.  Hope this update makes you smile - God is definitely good.

Love,

Robyn